A/N: I started posting this on , but I wasn't getting very many readers and/or reviews. So I'm reposting it here in fanfiction form.

FYI: This is the original story Pirate's Love is based off of. I've changed all the character's name and some of the places to CLAMP names. I warn you, there are many characters in this, most from CLAMP and other from some other stories. See if you can spot them. ;) I will try to keep the pairings canon, but some will be rather interesting surprises. There WILL be yaoi/shounen-ai content ion this later on. The main pairings are: KuroFai, TouyaxYukito, ReixRuka, ShinxYuda. The others are more hinted at. If you can think of any other clamp characters, send them to me in PMs or reviews *hint, hint* so I can draw more names to fit my characters.

Also, all the chapters with Interlude as the title, are from the past. Everything else is all the present time.

Warning: Attempted rape.

What Comes Before the Fall

Interlude 1

Princess Shashi gazed out over the Undersea and the city of Atlantis sprawled out before her. The golden faerie lights glittered in windows and in the streets. Several moved and bobbed as the boats they were attached to moved in the waves of Undersea. The waters above the city rippled in the currents of Uppersea. The daystar's light was almost gone leaving Atlantis in a watery blue bubble. It was beautiful. Shashi took a deep breathe of the salty air.

She thought of what it would be like to join the Hunt with the Royal Hunters who would travel to the surface, every so often bringing back a few spoils. Sometimes it was gold and riches, other times it was cloth, spices, and perfumes, and yet other times it was a small group of wild humans. She didn't like the idea of taking wild humans to Atlantis as prizes. She didn't like the idea of wild humans in Atlantis, period. But it wasn't her call, and wouldn't be for a little while longer. But then again, her favorite maidservant, Adra, a dark haired, dark skinned, dark eyed woman, was a wild human and a great companion to boot. She shrugged to herself. This world was full of irony.

She turned away from the open air and walked back into the warmth of the palace. She lived in the Princess's Quarters. They weren't as decorated or as elegant and elaborate as the Queen's Quarters where her mother lived, but that was just as well. She was more of a simple styled woman. She preferred candles to faerie lights, river stones and pebbles to the sprinkled rose petals, green living plants to the brown cuttings from old trees, and ruff, woven rugs to the soft woolen rugs. But she couldn't fight against the long sheer curtains that hung from the ceiling giving the room a sense of the elegance as well as the needed privacy.

She started stripping down as she approached the bath, a large pool set in the center of her quarters and easily accessible from all parts. The bath patio was built under a ceiling of leather-like cloth that could be closed or opened by the whim of the current princess's magic. She reached up with her magic and ordered the ceiling to open, exalting in the cool, salty, night air.

Rose petals and lotus blooms floated in the still water. She climbed the two steps to the rim of the bath and gazed at the steaming water. Smooth dark pebbles and candles of varying heights ringed the rim of the pool. She smiled and watched as the water rippled as she stepped into the warm water. She walked over to her favorite niche and sat down. The warm water lapped at her neck and surrounded her body taking away the aches and pains of the day. She closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of roses and lavender.

Shashi was the Princess of Atlantis and Heir to the Hunter's Throne. She looked it too. She was of medium height with long auburn hair and striking green eyes. Her pale skin was tinted gold from the many candle flames. Her hands were delicate, but not without their share of calluses from handling the Gabriel Hounds. Her ears were gracefully pointed and her dark lashes were long.

Sleep was just a sigh away from a comforting and much needed nap when she heard the faintest sound. Almost like a gasp. She quickly opened her eyes and sat up. "Hello?" she called into the illuminated patio. "Who's there? Adra is that you?" She strained to see into the shadows created by the candlelight and the many sheer curtains rippling in the night breeze from the open ceiling.

She stood up in the water, ignoring the rose petals that stuck to her body. Her wet hair tumbled to her upper back and over her breasts. "Hello? Who's there?"

This time, she did see movement. Several of the curtains shifted against the breeze as a burred shadow ran toward her bedchamber. "Hey! Hey stop!" she yelled. She snatched the dress set by the entrance to her bath and ran to her bed room as she pulled it on all the time hollering for the figure to stop running. Upon reaching her rooms she slowed her pace before stepping in.

Her loose-fitting cotton dress whispered on the flagstone floor. She stepped inside as she fumbled with her sash in an attempt to tie a knot. Nervously she fingered the diving neckline with twitching fingers. Where was Adra when she needed her?

"Hello?" she called into the disturbing silence of the room. She noted that nothing appeared disturbed. That, at least, was a good sign. Or so she hoped.

"Who's there? I saw you. If you turn yourself over now, I promise I will forget any of this happened. Now, come on. Come out."

"I'm here, Princess," a voice whispered into her ear, right behind her.

Shashi spun around, only to see a tall, handsome man, possibly in his early fifties, standing before her. She backed up a pace or two. She hadn't been expecting this sort of intruder. What was a mature Elf of obviously high standing doing in her private quarters without permission?

"Who are you?" she asked. She recognized him from somewhere but she couldn't remember.

"Don't remember me, Princess? Shame. I remember you, though." Eri flinched away. The man had actually reached up and ran his fingers through her hair.

"Please, tell me why you're here. Is there something going on? Am I needed?"

"Yes and yes. You are needed, Princess. Needed by me," he stepped forward, and she stepped back. But the man just smiled a dazzling smile and crossed the distance between them in one step, grabbed her, and kissed her, hard. His searching hands touching and feeling. His lips swallowed hers in the painful and most unwanted kiss.

Shashi pushed him away and retreated. "How dare you! You should know better than to touch a woman like that without her permission!"

The man laughed. His large brown eyes glittered with and unholy fire as he said, "Permission? Who says I need permission? I want something, I get it. That's how the world works now, Princess. Better get that through your pretty head." He deliberately stepped forward and she stepped back, right into a column. Trapped!

He was very close to her now. She felt the column press against her back while her hands felt for some way to escape. Now she realized how thin the fabric of her dress really was. How thin the barrier between him and her was. She pressed up close to the column in a desperate attempt to keep him away.

"Stay back," she warned, though she knew how pathetic her warning seemed, especially when he tilted back his head and laughed. This was her chance. She ducked and dashed past him, but she didn't make it far before she felt strong hands catch her and pull her back. Her captor pressed her body against his as she struggled to escape his clutches. The more she struggled, the harder he pressed, until she gasped for breath. She felt his hot breath against her ear as her panicked eyes searched desperately for some weakness to take advantage of. She found none.

"I always did like my girls fiery," her captor whispered into her ear. She whimpered as her breath came in short gasps. "That's right, relax. I want you to save your strength for when the fun really starts."

The man's head turned and she followed his gaze, which rested on the large bed nestled in the corner of the room surrounded by thick red curtains. A window was set on the inside wall allowing the moonlight to shine through. But it was barred by strong golden bars in a diamond pattern. Slowly, her captor walked her over to the bed. She cried out and struggled in his grasp, but he held her tight.

Once they reached the bedside he pushed her violently onto the bed. Shashi crawled across the sheets to the foot of the bed in hopes of escaping but she was stopped as a heavy weight crushed her onto the bed. She screamed, but it was muffled by the bed sheets that pressed against her face.

"There, there now. Hold still. I need to pull the curtains. Don't want any stray person to hear you scream now do we?" The weight lessened somewhat as the man reached up and pulled the curtains closed enclosing them in complete darkness save only for the moonlight shining through the window. Shashi cried into the bed.

"There, now. All alone. No one to accidentally stumble into to our fun. Can't have that. Now let's get these annoying clothes off. Be difficult to have fun with them on." Shashi struggled and cried out as he rolled her over onto her back and started tearing at her clothes. She scratched at his face but he struck her on the cheek stunning her. Her struggles were less coordinated and half hearted now, as if the bruise he'd given her had knocked some sense out of her. He smiled and continued to rip her dress apart to get to her skin underneath. But even uncoordinated, the brat's hands still blocked him. So instead, he leaned forward and kissed her again, and was gratified by a weak whimper.

Then came the angry roar, and the sharp knives stabbing into the man's back. Now he screamed and spun around, only to see darkness. But he felt something pounce onto his chest, something with sharp, gripping knives. He screamed again but a club-like object swatted his face smashing him to the floor where he lay still in a bloody mess.

The newcomer turned his attention to the weeping girl still lying on the bed crying. He sat awkwardly on the bed next to her. Gently he caressed her now bare arm as she sobbed into the bed sheets. He felt helpless, which was an uncomfortably common felling he had here. He needed to do something. This was when he needed the Butterfly Lady. A woman's touch was needed here, not a man's.

Uncomfortably, he shifted his position and said, as gently as he could, but still managing to disguise his voice in a gravely tone, "It's all right, now, Lady. He's dead. I promise he won't touch you again." He sighed and shook his head at how pathetic those words sounded at the moment. It felt stupid saying things like this. He never was much of a comforter.

She stirred, and he turned his attention back to her. "Who...who are you?" she asked quietly, a little shake in her voice.

The newcomer hesitated. Technically, he wasn't even supposed to be here. He collected himself before answering, "A friend." He paused, then added, "A friend who means you no harm."

The girl shifted in the darkness so that he could see her eyes. They were a splendid shade of green. He suddenly felt extremely conscious of the dim, watery moonlight that flickered its way through the gold barred window. Instinctively, he slid back a bit into the concealing shadows, praying that she couldn't see his eyes. Thanks goodness the Pale Star was waning.

Shashi gazed at her rescuer shyly, very conscious of her torn dress, the position she was in, where they were, and that her rescuer was a male. She tried to see him but apparently the lights outside of the bed's curtains had been extinguished as well leaving the two of them in almost total darkness. She could only see the hand that rested on her bare, bruised arm. It was gentle, moon pale, and smooth. She raised her gaze to where she thought the man's face would be and asked, "Why did you kill him?"

A stupid question to ask, from her point of view, but still. She didn't approve of killing, even when it was the last resort. She had to know. Her keen eyesight noted the sudden tenseness of the hand on her arm with curiosity. There was a flicker of movement in the shadows as a deeper shadow shifted, she guessed uncomfortably. She caught a glimpse of something that could be the moonlight reflecting off something but it was gone before she could focus on it.

The young man didn't know what to say. What was there to say? He hadn't meant to kill the man, but he knew in his heart that he'd wanted to. He had wanted to kill him, so kill him he did. Though, he regretted it now. He looked at those intelligent green eyes and felt his conscience prick. "I couldn't stand to see what he was doing to you," he answered honestly.

"But why kill him?"

"I..I don't know."

She was silent for what seemed like a long time while he sat drinking in those beautiful eyes. Green like the leaves he often slept under, or like the moss that grew on the rocks, or like the grass that bent in the breeze. So beautiful.

"What do you want in return?"

Shashi watched the darker shadow closely for some sort of reaction to her question. She saw the shadow move suddenly and felt the gentle hand on her tighten in what she took as surprise. Her rescuer had either not anticipated the question, or he hadn't expected her to bring it up so abruptly.

"What do you mean 'what do I want in return'?" asked the husky voice belonging to the hand.

"I mean," she said, sitting up a bit, "what do you want in payment for rescuing me?"

"Payment…"

The young man definitely hadn't expected payment. Why should he? He nearly voiced this when from somewhere deep in his mind, came another thought. He voiced this instead.

"All I want is kiss."

A kiss? That's all? Shashi half-sat, half-lay there on the bed where she had almost been raped, in a tattered dress, gazing at a rescuer she couldn't see, but whose hand still clutched her arm, in shock. She had just been kissed by the cruelest man in the world, by her point of view, and now her rescuer wanted a kiss too. What was with men and kisses? But, then again, he did save her…

"No money, no riches, no power, no," here she jerked her chin to where the body of her attacker approximately lay, "'fun'?"'

"No."

Shashi thought a moment. She did owe this person her virginity if nothing else. "Very well. But, come into the light."

Here, the young man realized his mistake. Hurriedly he tried to cover up his blunder. "I would rather not," he said, rather lamely he berated.

"Please, I don't bite," she smiled, so dazzling, "hard."

"Only if you close your eyes."

He watched as her smile faltered. "Very well."

"And one more thing," the young man added.

"I thought all you wanted was a kiss?" she asked, her eyes now suspicious, her smile gone.

"It is all I want. But, when I've kissed you, will…will you keep your eyes closed for a count to ten?"

"Why?" the playful gleam back in her eyes. Good.

"Because, I would rather not be seen. By anyone."

She thought a moment then nodded. Then she sat up further pulling her arm from his grasp to lean on her elbows. Then she closed her eyes and waited. He leaned forward.

When his lips touched hers, Shashi lost her breath. She didn't know what to feel. She was…for lack of a better word, amazed. She felt one of his arms slip around her waist, but she couldn't stop him because of the position she was in. If she moved one of her elbows she would fall onto her back and, considering what she had just been through, that was not the most welcoming position for her to be in. Instead, she simply kissed him back. She almost couldn't help it. It was like she needed him to keep kissing her or she wouldn't be able to breathe, although kissing him meant that she lost her breath. It was a fascinating, and beautifully addicting situation.

He had never kissed anyone like her before. Her lips were so soft. He moved forward to sit next to her and pull her close. He kissed her, and she kissed him, until he couldn't tell who was kissing who anymore. She was…perfect. He wanted this feeling to last, but it was cut short. His sharp ears caught the sound of metal shoes, guards, coming down the hallway. He knew he should go, but he stayed. He heard the banging of an armored fist on the locked door and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he needed to go, but still he lingered.

Shashi barely heard the guards' shouts to break down the door and tried to break the kiss but he wouldn't let go, and she couldn't bring herself to fight him. She heard the crashes as the guards started to break down the door and she tried again to pull away, but still he held her enraptured. Finally, he broke off and pulled her closer to him. The guards hadn't succeeded in breaking the door down yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time.

"You'd better go." It was all her air defiled body could manage. She was pleased to hear the same amount of breathlessness in the husky voice of her rescuer when he whispered in her ear, "Tell no one about me, love."

She gasped as he kissed her one last time on the cheek before pulling away. "Remember, count to ten."

Quietly, the young man slipped away from the bed letting his hands linger as long as they could on her skin releasing her hand only because he could no longer reach. Then he turned toward the large window overlooking a decently sized balcony and raced into the night.

Shashi had only reached seven when the guards burst into the room and she was forced to open her eyes. She prayed that her rescuer had made it out safely and without being seen.

"My Lady!" one of the guards cried.

"Shashi!" her mother cried, rushing over to her after pausing only momentarily to relight the faerie lights. "Oh, darling are you alright?" She raced past the dead man to the bed Shashi was sitting on and hugged her close weeping in relief. Shashi felt tears of relief fall down her cheeks as well and she did nothing to hold them back. Instead she sobbed into her mother's ready shoulder. Queen Aerith held her beloved daughter close and rocked her like a small child.

"Is he dead?" she heard her mother inquired authoritatively, never one to allow herself forget the circumstances of a given situation easily despite the distractions.

"Aye, your Majesty," replied the captain. "I recognize him through the blood and wounds. He was one of the Royal Hunters. I've seen him around the grounds with those Gabriel Hounds."

Queen Aerith looked around the room and noted with satisfaction that the guards had begun a thorough search for any trace of an ally to the dead man. She nodded to the captain who bowed before turning to help his men in their search. Aerith cooed to her still weeping child, rocking her gently back and forth. But her cooing was interrupted by a disturbance at the door. She looked up to see what all the fuss was about, and saw a dark woman of medium height standing in the doorway trying to get in and arguing animatedly with the guard who was preventing her from doing so.

"Guard, she may enter. Come in, Adra, I need your help," she called.

Adra bowed to her princess, but paused long enough to give a high and mighty sniff at the flustered soldier before continuing over the two women. "Your Majesty," she said, bobbing a curtsey. "Is Lady Shashi alright, ma'am? Do ya think we should take 'er to yer quarters?"

Aerith nodded. "Shashi? Darling? Adra is going to take you to my room for the night. I'll be there shortly, my love."

Love. Her rescuer had called her 'love'. The thought of that young man with the husky voice, and addicting lips, brought a blush to her face. She stood but quickly discovered that covering herself would be a hassle in her now ragged dress. Aerith quickly stood, removing her cape and pinning it around Eri's shoulders.

"Thanks, mom."

"Don't mention it, dear." Shashi paused, her rescuer had said something like that right before he'd left.

"This way, Lady," Adra fussed, pulling Shashi toward the door. But before she left the room, Shashi stopped and stared out the open window into the watery night. She thought of her rescuer, and her fingers unconsciously touched her lips, and she smiled. Then she gave in to Adra's fussing and followed her out of the room.

A/N: Well, I hope that caught your attention. Btw, "Shashi" is from RG Veda. Remember, send me more CLAMP and other character names as well as the anime/manga they're from so I can look them up and decide which character they fit best.

Rate and Review! ;)